On Turns To 32 Robots In Busan South Korea To Rewrite Its Supply Chain

On is using a new robot run factory in Busan, South Korea to rethink how performance footwear is made. The brand aims to cut supply chain risk, speed up delivery, and bring production closer to its core markets. Moreover, the move shifts part of the brand’s model away from traditional third party manufacturing hubs in Vietnam and Indonesia. About 90% of its shoes are currently sourced from Vietnam and 10% from Indonesia.

A New Kind of Running Shoe Factory

The Busan facility deploys 32 industrial robots using On’s proprietary LightSpray process. This process sprays thermoplastic filament onto a mold to build a one piece upper in minutes. That compresses a traditional upper making process of roughly 200 steps spread across multiple sites into a single automated workflow. As a result, the factory is capable of around 1,000 pairs per day.

Nearshoring to Manage Tariffs and Risk

By placing production in South Korea, which has one of the world’s highest industrial robot densities, On is testing how nearshoring can buffer against shifting U.S. tariffs, freight disruption, and geopolitical pressure. Co founder Caspar Coppetti said, “The speed to market and the sustainability of it and also the fact that basically we’re running out of places with cheap labour are all speaking for automation and going closer to where consumers are.”

Scaling Beyond South Korea

The Busan plant is On’s second automated site after a pilot facility in Zurich with just four robots; together they increase robotic capacity by roughly 30 times versus 2025. The brand plans to replicate this model with additional factories in the United States and Europe, which would help cut tariff exposure and further shorten lead times into key marathon and performance markets.

Performance and Marathon Context

LightSpray first hit the spotlight on the LightSpray marathon shoe worn by Hellen Obiri when she won the New York Marathon, reinforcing that this is not just a cost play but tied to an elite racing product. As competition with Nike and Adidas intensifies around the fastest shoe, On’s bet is that owning more of the process through robotics and regional plants can become as important as foams and plates in staying competitive.